ARE YOU NEW TO OUR PARISH? WELCOME!
Welcome to those who want to make our parish their faith home. You may have come from other places. You may have been “away for a while”. Be assured that we love to have you among us. We would appreciate it very much if you identified yourself at Mass. It would also help if you would take the time to fill out a registration form. The next time you are with us, you may leave it in the collection basket or give it to one of the ushers or to the priest. Thank you and welcome.

LAST MONDAY’S LAUNCH OF PREPARATION FOR NEXT YEAR’S EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS
A number of us participated in the service that was held at St. Mark’s Church in Aylmer. The focus was on The Eucharist, gift from God for the life of the World. In his reflections Bishop Roger Ebacher drew our attention to several crucial aspects of our celebration of the Eucharist. One aspect the bishop mentioned caught me by surprise. He made a link with the topic chosen for the next Synod of Bishops to be held, I think, in 2009 The Bible, the Word of God. It may all sound very complicated, but the point the bishop made made a lot of sense. Our celebration of the Eucharist is made up of two parts, two Tables: the Table of the Word of God, the Table of the bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ.

Special envelopes for that collection are attached to Sunday’s bulletin. If you are a regular envelope user make sure to indicate your normal envelope number in the space provided for this purpose. Then you can receive an income tax receipt for whatever you contribute. If you are not a regular envelope user and want to receive an income tax receipt, please make sure to fill in your name and address at the appropriate place.
Cheques are to be made out to our parish, and we will pass it on to the diocese.

ANY NEWS ON WHO WILL TAKE YOUR PLACE?
That question is asked with some concern now that the date of my leaving from here begins to come closer. Mind you, it is only late August that I will be moving to St Mark’s in Aylmer. Still, the question and the concern are understandable and deserve to be dealt with to the extent possible.

At this point, we are still operating from the assumption that the agreement made between our bishop and a bishop from India is still in force. That agreement consists in having a priest from India (his name is Father Gyan Prakash) come to work in the English sector of our Diocese. When that priest is coming we do not know yet. It depends on when he gets his visa; and that, in turn, is in the hands of the immigration authorities. Yes, inquiries have been made, but no firm answer has been forthcoming. We certainly hope that it will be in the next few months.

In the meantime, a few representatives from our four parishes have met with Father Philippe Gendron, Vicar General of our Diocese, to map out some strategy in preparation for the priest’s coming. No details are in place yet On the other hand, it is not too early to alert us all to the adjustments that we all will have to make with the arrival of the priest. We have to be honest; it will not be a smooth transition (let us suppose that it is normally relatively smooth) as when a priest is moved from one parish to another in the same diocese.

What sort of adjustments are we talking about?

Naturally, the priest who is coming will have to make major adjustments. He comes from a different culture, from a different church-experience. He will have to get to know “the lay of the land”, how we “do things here, “, what sort of church we are. In other words, he will not be able to jump right in as if he is simply moving from one parish in our diocese into our four parishes.

We will also have to make significant adjustments. These are of two kinds:

Yes, we will want to make him feel welcome, give him a hand in finding his way around, help him to get to know us, show him how we as Canadians, and more particularly as Quebec people, live, etc.

But another kind of adjustment is expected from us as well. That has to do with parish life itself. While the new priest’s ministry among us will be quite limited at first, parish life itself will go on. We cannot just sit back until the new priest has found his way. Together we will have to make sure that our parishes keep operating and that is more than a matter of making sure that we have Sunday Mass and the occasional funeral. We have to attend to the four areas that make up parish life: liturgy, faith formation, fellowship, transformation. The two elected bodies in our parishes (the Parish Pastoral Council and the Wardens) will continue to provide the leadership that is needed. If we recognize and accept that leadership by enabling and supporting them in all that these bodies do for our parishes, the pastoral life of our parishes will greatly benefit from it, and it will also facilitate the new priest’s ministry among us.

ST MALACHY WARDENS’ MEETING
- Tuesday, June 5th at 7:00 P.M.

OLV WARDENS’ MEETING
- Thursday, June 7th at 7:00 P.M. in the conference room at OLV. (Please note change in the date.)

JOINT PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING
- Monday, June 4th in the conference room at OLV.